


Honey and Flames

by Wherefore_art_thou_Homeo



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Asanoya exchange gift 2016, Farmer's Market AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-25
Updated: 2016-12-25
Packaged: 2018-09-12 00:41:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9048448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wherefore_art_thou_Homeo/pseuds/Wherefore_art_thou_Homeo
Summary: Noya, Daichi, and Tanaka work a grill at the local farmer's market every Saturday. Noya enjoys the opportunity to take it easy for a while, to relax and enjoy himself - and play with some fire - after a long week of working. This Saturday, though, an unexpected newcomer to the farmer's market scene is set to change the pace of things a bit.





	

**Author's Note:**

> My AsaNoya exchange gift for tumblr user ottersox!

Most days, Noya dreaded getting up early in the morning. Getting up for work during the week was torture – and he actually had a pretty late start to his office-job workday, normally, given that he only lived a few blocks away from the building. His alarm went off at eight, he snoozed it five or six times, laid there for forty-five minutes or so, and spent those last fifteen in a mad dash of getting dressed, stuffing some food down his gullet, and sprinting down the street.

But this was not so on Saturdays.

Saturdays were market days.

Noya woke up that morning, as usual, right at six, right when his alarm went off. He popped out of bed and got ready to go quickly, showering, getting dressed, gelling his hair up, and eating within half an hour. Daichi and Ryu wouldn’t show up until about seven, but that gave him some time to make a cup of coffee as well – a luxury he usually had to skip on weekdays, in favor of the time-saving leftover coffee that someone usually left in the break room pot.

Noya took it easy for a while, and before too long his phone was buzzing with a text from Ryu, saying he was outside. Noya texted back a reply and hurried out of his apartment, down the stairs, and outside to where his ride was waiting. Right on time once again. Ryu was also uncharacteristically punctual when it came to the market.

Noya opened the back door to the truck. It was the only vehicle they had, and even though it was big, it still had a bit of trouble hauling three people, a grill, a fold-up booth, and several coolers full of meat. There was barely enough room for Noya to fit; he saw that Ryu had done him the courtesy of clearing out a small gap in the coolers for him to squeeze through, rather than leaving it to him to Jenga himself out a seat. Noya crammed himself into his spot.

Ryu looked back at him and grinned. “How’s it going back there?” he teased.

“Just don’t take any turns too sharp is all,” Noya said. “It could get real bad for me.”

He leaned forward a little to get a look at Daichi, who was surprisingly the worst at this early-morning thing. Today, Noya would have thought he was asleep if it weren’t for the death grip he had on his takeout coffee.

“All packed in?” Ryu asked.

Noya buckled his seat belt. “Yep,” he chirped. “Daichi, you alive?”

Daichi groaned very loudly.

“He’s semiconscious,” Ryu shrugged, putting the car in gear. “He’ll be more awake once we get there and he can start chatting up the hot flower guy again.”

“‘Hot flower guy’ has a name,” Daichi grunted. “It’s Koushi Sugawara. It’s magnificent.”

Noya and Ryu snorted. Daichi never talked like this when he was actually awake. They enjoyed this.

“Besides,” Daichi went on, sitting up. “Someone has to be the adult supervision around here. You two would be dead by now if it weren’t for me.”

Ryu scoffed. “I have only set something on fire that wasn’t supposed to be on fire _one time_ since we started doing this,” he said defensively.

“And that _one time_ ,” Daichi shot back, “that thing was _Noya_.”

“That was fun,” Noya cackled.

“It was pretty funny,” Ryu said.

“Regardless of how funny it may be, people are not supposed to catch fire. Especially not in front of several small children who were just trying to buy lunch.”

Daichi took a sip of his coffee and set it down hard. “Okay!” he declared, already far more energetic, “Let’s go.”

Ryu pulled the car out into traffic and they were on their way. Noya sat back with his arms on the coolers on either side of him like a throne. He did this partially because he thought it was funny and partially to keep them from sliding and crushing him. It served a very important dual purpose.

It was a bit of a ways to the market, but Noya enjoyed the drive even despite the constant threat of death. He couldn’t really see out the windows, but there was a good enough view of the street out the windshield. The early-morning light lit everything up orange. Not too many people were out this early, either, which was also interesting to see. Living in the middle of a big city like this one, it was hard to find a time when the sidewalks weren’t bustling with people.

About fifteen minutes later, they arrived at the parking area. Ryu parked the truck and the three of them got out to unload. Ryu and Noya grabbed the booth, carried it down the street to their spot, and began to set up. They weren’t the first ones there; the vendors on either side of them were set up already, as were several further down the street. One of the booths – the one to their left – belonged to Hot Flower Guy himself, who was already completely set up for the day, and was sitting back in a lawn chair reading a book. He looked up when Noya and Ryu approached, smiled and waved.

“Hey there,” he called out. “Good morning.”

“Morning,” they replied in unison.

“Daichi’s coming behind us,” Ryu informed him. “He’s got the grill. He’ll be a sec.”

“Is he.” Suga nodded and went back to his book. Ryu smirked over his shoulder at Noya, who laughed. It was hilarious how forced the subtlety of their flirting was.

Noya noticed that in addition to his usual flowers and herbs, arranged in little vases and bunches on the counter, he also seemed to be selling something else today. Honey, it looked like, in jars of varying sizes with handmade labels stuck to the front. He’d never sold it before; Noya briefly wondered where it had come from.

He turned his attention to helping Ryu set up their booth. It was made up of two long folding tables and a canopy. The third side would be formed by their grill and coolers, and the back would be left open. Daichi rolled the grill into place just as they were finishing up with the canopy, and casually meandered over to Suga’s booth to inquire about some flowers. Suga put his book down and stood up, smiling slightly.

Noya and Ryu exchanged a look and walked back to the car to start grabbing coolers. Daichi would be no help once he and Suga got going.

“Responsible adult, my ass,” Ryu muttered.

It took a few trips but they got all the coolers in place fairly quickly. By the time they were done, Daichi had finally finished his discussion of the various types of flowers for sale and had purchased some, which he set down on one corner of their booth, farthest away from the grill. Noya lit the grill up and closed the lid; it would take a while to heat up, which was fine – nobody really started buying from them until the afternoon anyway. It was usually pretty quiet here until around lunchtime, except for the people buying from the booths near them.

When Noya stood back up, he was facing Suga’s booth – but it wasn’t Suga he saw first.

Standing there, rearranging the jars of honey, was – quite simply – the most attractive man Noya had ever laid eyes on.

He was probably about six feet tall. He had long brown hair, part of which was pulled into a little knot at the back of his head, the rest flowing down to his shoulders. He wore a simple white t-shirt, which showcased a pair of magnificently-muscled arms. When he turned his head and Noya saw his face, he nearly had a heart attack; soft brown eyes, thick eyebrows furrowed with concentration, a little bit of stubble along his jaw – amazing. Noya had to look away quickly in case the guy caught him staring.

Noya turned his head and realized that Ryu had already caught him, and was watching him with eyebrows raised and arms crossed. Noya realized he’d been standing there with his mouth open, literally gawking at the guy. He closed it quickly.

“C’mon, Noya,” Ryu groaned, shaking his head in disappointment. “Not you too.”

Noya grinned.

“Back in a sec,” he said, and walked out of their booth.

The guy looked up at him as he approached, and gave him a small smile.

“Hey there,” Noya said.

“Hey,” the guy replied – in voice so much softer than Noya had expected that he almost gasped out loud. He glanced sideways at Noya’s booth. “You work next door, right?”

“Yeah,” Noya confirmed. “Every week. You’re new, huh?”

He nodded. “Yeah, I’m just sharing this booth with Suga this week.”

“Didn’t think I’d seen you around before,” Noya smiled. “I’d definitely remember you.”

The guy blinked in surprise, but followed it up with a smile in return – and Noya could swear he blushed as well. Encouraged, he went on.

“I’m Yuu Nishinoya – call me Noya. Nice to meet you.”

He put out his hand. The guy shook it. His hand was warm, and dwarfed Noya’s.

“I’m Asahi,” he said. “Azumane.”

“Nice!” Noya smiled. He nodded at the jars next to them. “You’re selling honey?”

“Yeah,” Asahi said. “My family keeps bees. We had too much to eat by ourselves this year, so I thought I’d sell some.”

“How much?” Noya asked.

“The big jars are seven, the little ones are five.”

Noya picked up a small jar and held it up to the light, and then held it up in front of Asahi and looked at him through it. He smiled and, Noya thought – though it was hard to tell through the jar – blushed again.

“Beautiful,” Noya said.

Asahi laughed. “Yeah,” he replied, bowing his head and rubbing the back of his neck. “It’s pretty good.”

“I’ll have to try some,” Noya said. “Five, you said?”

“Yep.”

Noya reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He didn’t have much cash on him, but it was enough. He handed it over. Asahi counted it, looked up at him, and smiled.

“Thanks,” he said.

Noya nodded and beamed at him. “Yeah, yeah, no problem.”

He leaned over and set the jar of honey next to Daichi’s flowers.

Daichi rolled his eyes at him. He’d have to get back behind the counter soon; people were going to start showing up. Noya returned his attention to Asahi and smiled.

“We run a grill,” Noya said, gesturing at his booth. “You should stop by for lunch. It’s a good time.”

This earned him that careful little smile again.

“I’ll do that,” Asahi said.

Noya grinned. “I’m looking forward to it,” he said. “See you then?”

A firm nod and another smile. Noya turned back to his own booth, making no effort to conceal his huge grin from the other two. They both looked exasperated, and shook their heads to show it, but they smiled too.

“Any luck?” Ryu asked.

“He’s gonna come by for lunch,” Noya said. “We gotta make it extra spectacular.”

“Last time you used those words you lost an eyebrow,” Daichi cautioned.

“That’s what made it fun,” Noya replied.

Daichi squinted at him. “One of these days I’m not gonna be around to dump water on your head, you know that, don’t you, Noya?”

“And that will be the day I die and I am at peace with that knowledge,” Noya said. He turned to the grill and opened it up, letting a wall of heat rise out. He looked over his shoulder at the two of them.

“Let’s get cooking,” he grinned.

\- - -

Noya didn’t have just too much time to let his mind wander while he was working the grill, but he let it do so anyway. Mainly he let it wander about twenty feet behind him, to the next stall over, and to the really attractive honey vendor. He shot glances over there when he could, and smiled whenever they made eye contact – which was fairly often. Far too often when one of them was dealing with very hot embers and food.

“Noya, come on,” Ryu begged the third time he had to save someone’s order from the unattended flames of their grill. “ _I_ can’t be the only level-headed one around here. Please. We already lost Daichi. This place is toast if you go too.”

“It’s not toast.” Noya couldn’t resist. He held up a scorched hunk of meat with his tongs.

“Okay,” Ryu laughed. “Okay, that was pretty good. But you need to pay more attention. I’m the only one who’s allowed to set you on fire. No going and doing that yourself. Especially not before lunch actually starts.”

Noya checked his watch. It was only ten minutes till noon. The crowd was going to start gathering any second now. Their stand had moderate renown around here – not just for the taste of their meat, but also for the atmosphere. They began their lunch rush with something of a bang. It drew a lot of attention.

“Better start clearing a spot out there,” Daichi said, getting out of his chair. “Don’t wanna get sued.”

Noya and Ryu grinned at each other.

“You brought all the stuff, right?” Noya asked.

Ryu scoffed. “Don’t be an idiot,” he said, and held up the gym bag. “How could I forget?”

He handed the bag to Noya and started rearranging the stand so the grill was in front. Noya walked out in front of the booth and started getting ready.

Daichi didn’t have much work to do. The crowd was already giving him plenty of space. They knew the drill by now. Noya didn’t have anything to worry about.

He pulled his batons out of the bag and twirled them a few times, to enthusiastic applause from the onlookers. He looked over his shoulder at Asahi, who looked completely bewildered.

Noya grinned at him.

Ryu finished moving the grill and Noya took center stage. Ryu followed him out and helped him light the ends of the batons. Then he got out of the way.

The batons burned slowly, orange flames dancing up into the air. Noya held them up over his head for a few moments, and then started to move.

\- - -

Asahi watched, wide-eyed, as Noya started dancing. He flipped the fire high over his head, caught it easily, and started twirling it, one stick in each hand, all while spinning himself. His tongue was stuck out of his mouth a little as he concentrated, skinny limbs working like crazy, eyes intently focused.

Suga whistled to Asahi’s left, leaning against the counter.

“This gets crazier every week,” he murmured. “I wonder if he’s gonna do the…”

Asahi was about to ask what he meant, but it almost immediately became clear.

“Ah, yep,” Suga said. “There he goes.”

Noya took a few steps back, closer to his booth, still tossing the fire to himself – close enough that Asahi almost wanted to yell at him to watch out, or he would set their canopy on fire – and then suddenly rushed forward. He grabbed his batons and held them out to his sides, and then seemed to simply step off the ground.

Asahi held his breath.

Noya seemed to use the batons as a means of holding himself up as he backflipped through the air, tucking his knees up to his chest. The crowd shouted out as he landed again – on just one foot, with the other one stuck straight out behind him in an arabesque – and spun the batons around his hands, grinning widely.

Here he paused for a moment, and put both batons in his left hand. He held them out in front of himself and turned back to his gym bag, rooting around in it, looking for something.

“Oh, dear god,” Suga laughed. “He’s hamming it up today.”

He pulled out a water bottle and took a swig, puffing his cheeks out. He looked over at Asahi again.

“What is he – ”

But before Asahi could finish, Noya was already raising the batons to his mouth.

The cloud of fire that blew out from Noya’s lips was nearly as long as he was tall. Asahi recoiled from it – even from here, he could feel some of the heat. The crowd around him backed up, terrified and delighted.

The fire dissipated and Asahi could see Noya again. He wasn’t burnt at all, to Asahi’s astonishment. His eyes were alight and that giant grin was firmly in place. He held the batons out to his sides again and took a deep bow, to extremely enthusiastic applause. Asahi clapped too, more dazed than anything.

“He does this every week?” he asked Suga.

“Not every week,” Suga replied. “At least, not that much. That fire-breathing thing is pretty new. He lost an eyebrow last time he did it.”

“Wow,” Asahi marveled.

“I hope you know,” Suga put in, grinning, “That he probably did that to show off for you.”

“You think so?”

“Given the number of times he looked over at you…” Suga said.

Asahi hadn’t taken his eyes off Noya yet. He watched him turn away from the crowd and douse the batons in a waiting bucket of water. His fellow vendors rushed over to him as soon as he was done; the one with the buzz cut seemed just as crazy excited about Noya’s performance as he was, but the other one – Daichi – merely smacked him upside the head and pulled him back behind the counter.

Noya looked over at Asahi again. He waved emphatically at him, still grinning, and Asahi managed to wave back.

“So,” Suga said. “Break for lunch?”

“Yeah,” Asahi said.

“I take it you’re going next door?”

Asahi scowled at him. Suga smiled back innocently and straightened up.

“See you in half an hour, Asahi,” he said. “I’ll man the booth. Don’t worry about it.”

\- - -

When Asahi walked over, Noya was already leaning over the counter, waiting for him. He had to wait in line for a while – the show had attracted quite a few customers – but it didn’t take too long.

“So,” Noya said, once he got to the front. “What’d you think?”

“How’d you… not set yourself on fire?” Asahi asked.

Noya stuck his tongue out. “Carefully,” he replied. “Takes practice.”

“No kidding,” he murmured.

“So!” Noya said, gesturing at the grill. “What d’you want? Hamburger, hot dog, ribs – what’s it gonna be?”

“Just a hot dog would be fine,” Asahi said.

“Ketchup or anything?”

“No, thanks.”

Noya nodded and rolled a hot dog into a bun. He handed it to Asahi.

“How much –?” Asahi began, reaching for his wallet, but Noya shook his head.

“On the house,” he said, “Don’t tell Daichi.”

Asahi hesitated. “You wouldn’t… get in trouble, or something, would you?” he asked.

“I’m sure he’d understand,” Noya said, with another big smile – and a _wink._ “Daichi makes the occasional exception for Mr. Sugawara over there, I think I can do the same here for once.”

So Asahi hadn’t been reading too much into things. He hoped his face hadn’t gone as red as he felt like it had.

“Hey,” Noya said. “You wanna go for a walk? I’m about to go for lunch myself.”

“Oh, are you,” Daichi said, coming up from behind Noya. “Right in the middle of the lunch rush.”

“Yep,” Noya said, and stuck his tongue out at him. He pulled his apron off and folded it up, tucking it away under the table. “See ya in half an hour, Daichi, it’s not like I’m getting paid for this.”

Daichi looked unamused but made no move to stop Noya as he left the booth. Asahi smiled apologetically at him, and Daichi waved his hand dismissively and smiled back.

“Okay,” Noya said. “You walked around at all? Know anywhere you wanna go?”

“I haven’t looked around much, no,” Asahi replied.

“Well, looks like you’re getting the grand tour from me, then,” Noya said brightly. “There’s all sorts of cool places. Come on!”

He jumped a few steps ahead of him, beckoning Asahi forward. He was almost like a kid, with how excited he was. Asahi couldn’t help but smile and walk a bit faster to keep up with him.

Noya slowed down as they approached the center of the market. He looked over his shoulder frequently, to make sure Asahi was still following, and smiled at him each time. Asahi smiled back, all caught up in a whirlwind.

Noya clearly came by here all the time. He shouted out to vendors he knew by name, waved at people as they walked through crowds, flashing that big grin wherever they went. Asahi had initially worried a bit about losing him in all these people – he was built awfully small – but with all his energy, he had a big presence; he was very difficult to miss. Pair that with the wild hairstyle, and Asahi didn’t think it would be possible to overlook him.

Noya didn’t get too close to most of the booths, but eventually they reached one that was selling candy of some sort and he actually grabbed Asahi’s hand and dragged him to it. Noya bought a bag of sugar-coated almonds, which he opened as they went on and offered to Asahi. Asahi took a few, careful not to let his sweaty palms touch the paper bag.

As they went further on, they started hearing music coming from somewhere. Noya stood on tiptoe to try and see where it was coming from.

“Aw man,” he said. “I think that’s that band that comes through sometimes. They’re great.”

He pulled Asahi along – by the hand, again; hopefully he didn’t care that he was sweating. Once they had gotten close enough to the music that Noya could confirm which band it was, they stopped. People were dancing in the middle of the plaza, surrounded by a wide circle of onlookers. The music was loud, but not overly so; it had a good, strong beat, but would be easy to talk over.

Noya looked up at Asahi. “You dance at all?” he asked.

“Oh, uh,” Asahi turned a little bit pink. “Not really. I mean… sometimes. But I’m not good at it.”

“Screw if you’re good at it,” Noya said – quite bluntly. “Do you like it?”

“I guess?” It sounded more like a question than an answer.

“Then… do you want to dance?”

He looked down at Noya, hesitating for a few moments – but then that earnest look in his eye, that little smile playing about his lips…

Asahi felt his heart flutter a little bit, felt it get a little lighter.

That smile was infectious.

“Sure,” he replied, and let Noya pull him out into the plaza.

\- - -

_Not good at it,_ Noya thought to himself incredulously. _Not good at it._

Asahi was great at dancing. Not a single one of his movements was wasted. He closed his eyes when he danced, listening to the music, moving with it exactly. Noya kept almost stopping to watch him do it – he was hypnotizing.

By the time the song was over, Noya had stopped dancing himself, and was just standing there with a huge smile, watching Asahi.

Asahi opened his eyes, noticed him staring, and turned bright red.

“Beautiful,” Noya murmured.

Asahi scoffed. “No it wasn’t.”

“Hey! Yeah, you were.” Noya said. Then, feeling bold, “You are.”

Asahi blinked at him in surprise – and then waved the compliment off and turned away. Noya’s heart skipped. He hurried after him.

“Hey,” he said quickly. “Sorry if that was weird. I didn’t mean to be creepy.”

Asahi shook his head. “You’re fine,” he said, in an even smaller voice than normal. “Don’t worry about it.”

He didn’t look down at Noya. He kept his gaze fixed straight ahead. Noya couldn’t make out his expression.

Noya looked at the ground and stuffed his hands in his pockets.

“Should we head back, then?” he asked.

“Sure.”

The walk back to their respective booths was quiet. Noya didn’t say another word until they got there.

“See ya, Asahi,” he said brightly.

“Yeah.” Asahi glanced up at him, managing a shy smile. “Thanks for the tour.”

“No problem.”

Noya walked back into his booth and busied himself with cooking.

\- - -

Noya left Asahi alone for the rest of the day. He looked over there every so often, but never caught Asahi’s eye. He thought he’d caught him looking a few times, but if he had, Asahi was very good at playing it off – Noya couldn’t actually tell.

He’d come on too strong. He should have known, with a guy as reserved as Asahi, that he should have moved a little slower. It was fine… he barely knew the guy. It wasn’t a big loss.

Or it shouldn’t be, but Noya was sure kicking himself like it was. From the few hours they’d known each other, Noya knew he wanted to get to know him more.

It was pretty business as usual in Noya’s booth for the rest of the day. Ryu and Daichi noticed he was pretty subdued, but even Ryu had more tact than to ask. Besides, they could probably figure it out pretty easily.

The crowds thinned out as the afternoon wore on. A few people came over to grab an early dinner before leaving the market. They used up the last of their stock and started packing up. Noya noticed that Asahi had sold all his honey as well; only flowers were left on their counter. Suga was gone for the moment, leaving Asahi alone. He was sitting at the counter, staring at his phone, fidgeting with it.

“Hey,” Noya said to Ryu. “I’ll be right back.”

Ryu glanced over at Asahi and smiled at him.

“Good luck, buddy,” he said.

Noya walked over to Asahi’s booth. He looked up at him, and then quickly back down at his phone. His cheeks were a little bit pink.

“Hey, Noya,” he said.

“Hey,” Noya replied, smiling at him. “You about done for the day?”

“Yeah,” Asahi replied. “Yeah, I’ve sold out. I’m just minding it for Suga for a bit.”

“You, uh, think you’ll be coming back next week?”

Asahi shrugged. “Uh… probably not, actually,” he mumbled. “I sold out today, and that was all the excess we had, so…”

“Ah,” Noya said, heart sinking a little. He smiled anyway. “Well… it was nice to meet you.”

“It was nice to meet you too.” Asahi put his phone down, folded his hands, and stared at them.

“So,” Noya went on. “I’ll… see you around, I guess? Maybe?”

“Maybe.”

He didn’t sound so sure. Noya bit his lip and looked down at his shoes.

“Okay,” he smiled. “All right. See you.”

He turned to leave, but Asahi suddenly called out after him.

“Noya?” he said.

Noya stopped and looked back. Asahi had finally raised his head, and was looking right at him. His cheeks were bright pink.

“Yeah?” Noya replied.

Asahi reached under the counter and pulled out a very small jar, about half the size of the one Noya had bought earlier.

“I, um,” Asahi said. “I…”

He held the jar up. “I have this sample jar I didn’t use up – didn’t even open it,” he said. “I don’t sell these, but I don’t need it, so… uh…”

He shrugged. “Would you want to take it?”

Noya smiled at him. “Sure,” he replied. “How much?”

“No, um,” Asahi turned still more pink. “I don’t need it, and since you gave me free food earlier, it’s, uh, it’s free.”

“Oh – all right, then, fair enough,” Noya said.

Asahi handed Noya the jar and picked up his phone again.

“See you,” he said, quickly and quietly. “Maybe.”

“Yeah,” Noya said, turning to go, still with that sinking feeling. “Yeah – see you.”

Noya looked at the jar and noticed that a corner of the label was peeled up – and that a small, folded piece of paper was stuck underneath it. Curious, Noya pulled it out.

He unfolded it, and his eyes widened as he took in the phone number written there, written in neat handwriting right below a name – _his_ name – _Asahi._

Noya’s mouth fell open in surprised delight. He looked over his shoulder at Asahi, who was still red in the face, still staring determinedly at his phone. He happened to glance up at Noya then, and flushed an even darker red, turning away quickly.

Noya couldn’t contain a grin.

“Hey, Noya,” Daichi called to him. “We’re heading out. C’mon.”

Noya looked at the back of Asahi’s head for a few more moments, and then, still smiling like an idiot, turned to follow Ryu and Daichi.


End file.
